America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System With Infotrac

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Open this book and step into America's court system! What's it like to be a judge? A prosecutor? A defense attorney? With Neubauer's best-selling book, you'll find out! This fascinating and well-researched text gives you the sense of being in the courthouse-of what it is like to work in and be a part of the system. This concept of the courthouse "players" illustrates each person's important role in bringing a case through the court process. Throughout the text, Neubauer highlights not only the pivotal role of the criminal courts within the criminal justice system but also the court's importance and impact on society as a whole.

David William Neubauer is now a professor at the University of New Orleans, where he chaired the political science department from 1982 to 1986.

Preface

xiv

To the Student

xix

About the Author

xxii

Courts, Crime, and Controversy

1

(24)

The Courts and the Criminal Justice System

2

(3)

An Interdependent Criminal Justice System

3

(1)

A Fragmented Criminal Justice Nonsystem

3

(1)

Tensions and Conflicts

4

(1)

The Blame Game

5

(1)

Courts, Crime, and the Public

5

(1)

Finding the Courthouse

6

(2)

Identifying the Actors in the Courthouse

8

(2)

Prosecutors

8

(1)

Defense Attorneys

9

(1)

Judges

9

(1)

Defendants and Their Victims

9

(1)

Following the Steps of the Process

10

(3)

Crime

10

(1)

Arrest

10

(1)

Initial Appearance

10

(1)

Bail

10

(1)

Preliminary Hearing

11

(1)

Charging Decision

12

(1)

Grand Jury

12

(1)

Arraignment

12

(1)

Evidence

12

(1)

Plea Negotiations

12

(1)

Trial

12

(1)

Sentencing

13

(1)

Appeal

13

(1)

Law on the Books

13

(1)

Law in Action

13

(1)

Case Close-Up: Overview

14

(1)

A Day in Court: Overview

15

(2)

Assembly-line Justice

15

(1)

Discretion

16

(1)

The Courtroom Work Group

16

(1)

Controversy: Overview

17

(1)

Courts and Controversy

17

(2)

Crime Control Model

18

(1)

Due Process Model

18

(1)

The Murder Trial of Shareef Cousin: Overview

19

(1)

Conclusion

20

(5)

Critical Thinking Questions

21

(1)

World Wide Web Resources and Exercises

21

(1)

InfoTrac College Edition Resources and Exercises

22

(1)

References

22

(1)

For Further Reading

23

(2)

PART I THE LEGAL SYSTEM

25

(86)

Law and Crime

26

(32)

The Basis of Law

27

(1)

The Common Law Heritage

28

(4)

Judge-Made Law

28

(1)

Precedent

29

(1)

Multiple Sources of Law

29

(3)

The Adversary System

32

(1)

Safeguards

32

(1)

Presumption of Innocence

32

(1)

The Rights of the Accused

33

(2)

Due Process

34

(1)

Bill of Rights

35

(1)

Civil Law

35

(2)

A Day in Court: ``The French Legal System''

37

(5)

Basis for Filing a Civil Suit

38

(1)

Remedies

39

(2)

Using Civil Remedies to Fight Crime

41

(1)

Civil Liability of Criminal Justice Officials

42

(1)

Controversy: Should Asset Forfeiture be Limited?

42

(1)

Criminal Law

43

(2)

Court TV: Cabey v. Goetz

45

(1)

Elements of a Crime

45

(2)

Guilty Act

45

(1)

Guilty Intent

46

(1)

Fusion of Guilty Act and Guilty Intent

47

(1)

Attendant Circumstances

47

(1)

Results

47

(1)

Legal Defenses

47

(1)

Case Close-Up: Two Verdicts in the O. J. Trials

48

(1)

Criminal Law: Constant and Changing

49

(3)

Pressures for Changing the Criminal Law

50

(2)

Piecemeal Change

52

(1)

The Murder Trial of Shareef Cousin: The Question of Civil Liability

52

(1)

Effects of the Criminal Law on the Courts

53

(1)

Criminal Law and Inconsistencies

53

(1)

Criminal Law and Plea Bargaining

53

(1)

Criminal Law and Sentencing

54

(1)

Conclusion

54

(4)

Critical Thinking Questions

55

(1)

World Wide Web Resources and Exercises

55

(1)

InfoTrac College Edition Resources and Exercises

56

(1)

References

56

(1)

For Further Reading

57

(1)

Federal Courts

58

(31)

Basic Principles of Court Organization

59

(2)

Jurisdiction

59

(1)

Trial and Appellate Courts

60

(1)

Dual Court System

61

(1)

History of the Federal Courts

61

(2)

The Constitutional Convention

62

(1)

Controversy: Should the Double Jeopardy Clause Prohibit Parallel State and Federal Prosecutions?

63

(2)

The Judiciary Act of 1789

64

(1)

1789-1891

64

(1)

Court of Appeals Act of 1891

65

(1)

Federal Courts Today

65

(1)

U.S. Magistrate Judges

65

(2)

Caseload of U.S. Magistrate Judges

67

(1)

U.S. District Courts

67

(2)

Caseload of U.S. District Courts

68

(1)

U.S. Courts of Appeals

69

(1)

Caseload of U.S. Courts of Appeals

70

(1)

A Day in Court: Bunton's Rocket Docket

70

(1)

U.S. Supreme Court

71

(2)

Caseload of U.S. Supreme Court

72

(1)

Specialized Courts

73

(1)

Military Justice

74

(1)

CourtTV: New York v. Nelson

74

(1)

Tribal Courts

75

(1)

The Murder Trial of Shareef Cousin: A Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit is Filed

75

(1)

Federal Judicial Administration

76

(2)

Chief Justice

76

(1)

Judicial Conference of the United States

77

(1)

Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

77

(1)

Federal Judicial Center

77

(1)

Judicial Councils

78

(1)

U.S. Sentencing Commission

78

(1)

Rising Caseloads in the Federal Courts

78

(3)

Dramatic Increase in Workload

79

(1)

How Many Federal Judges Are Too Many?

80

(1)

Reduce Federal Jurisdiction?

80

(1)

Controversy: Should State Crimes Also Become Federal Violations?

81

(1)

Consequences of Federal Involvement in the Criminal Justice System

82

(2)

Limited Scope

82

(1)

Forum for Symbolic Politics

83

(1)

Federal Dollars

83

(1)

Case Close-Up: U.S. v. Miller and the Right to Bear Arms

84

(1)

Conclusion

85

(4)

Critical Thinking Questions

85

(1)

World Wide Web Resources and Exercises

86

(1)

InfoTrac College Edition Resources and Exercises

86

(1)

References

87

(1)

For Further Reading

88

(1)

State Courts

89

(22)

History of State Courts

90

(1)

Colonial Courts

90

(1)

Early American Courts

90

(1)

Courts in a Modernizing Society

91

(1)

Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction: Lower Courts

91

(1)

Trial Courts of General Jurisdiction: Major Trial Courts

92

(2)

Criminal Cases

93

(1)

Civil Cases

93

(1)

The Murder Trial of Shareef Cousin: ``Doing Time at Tulane and Broad'' (Part I)

94

(1)

Intermediate Courts of Appeals

95

(1)

Courts of Last Resort: State Supreme Courts

96

(1)

Court Unification

97

(3)

Simplified Court Structure

100

(1)

Centralized Administration

100

(1)

Centralized Rule Making

100

(1)

Centralized Judicial Budgeting

100

(1)

CourtTV: California v. Powell

100

(2)

Case Close-Up: Wachtler v. Cuomo and Court Financing

101

(1)

Statewide Financing

102

(1)

Court Reform: The Emerging Agenda

102

(2)

Therapeutic Jurisprudence

102

(1)

Drug Courts

103

(1)

Controversy: The Politics of Court Reorganization

104

(1)

Consequences of Court Organization

104

(2)

Decentralization and Choice of Courts

105

(1)

Local Control and Local Corruption

105

(1)

A Day in Court: ``DuPage County Says the Jury Is Still Out on Its Fledgling Drug Court''

106

(1)

Conclusion

107

(4)

Critical Thinking Questions

107

(1)

World Wide Web Resources and Exercises

108

(1)

InfoTrac College Edition Resources and Exercises

109

(1)

References

109

(1)

For Further Reading

110

(1)

PART II LEGAL ACTORS

111

(134)

The Dynamics of Courthouse Justice

112

(25)

The Courthouse and the People Who Work There

113

(5)

The Courthouse

114

(1)

The Courtroom

114

(3)

Behind the Scenes

117

(1)

A Day in Court: ``Those People Behind the Scenes''

118

(1)

Dynamics of Courthouse Justice

118

(1)

Assembly-line Justice

119

(2)

Strengths of the Explanation

119

(1)

Weaknesses of the Explanation

119

(1)

Assembly-line Justice Reconsidered

120

(1)

The Murder Trial of Shareef Cousin: ``Doing Time at Tulane and Broad'' (Part II)